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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25059859">The Night Before</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/JayTDawgzone9999/pseuds/JayTDawgzone9999'>JayTDawgzone9999</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Dr. STONE (Anime), Dr. STONE (Manga)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Bisexual Female Character, Canon Divergence, Character Death, F/F, F/M, Feelings, Girls Kissing, Kissing, Late Night Conversations, Late at Night, Major character death - Freeform, Sad and Sweet, Sadness, Stargazing, TKS-Week 1:GL/WLW Ships, TKSSummerFunTimeEvent2020, TKSevents, Takes place between the stone wars and the treasure island arc, TheKingdomofShipping</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 01:07:37</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,812</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25059859</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/JayTDawgzone9999/pseuds/JayTDawgzone9999</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>After losing someone precious to her, Ruri discovers that it's a lot easier to find a friend than she thought-and perhaps something more as well. </p>
<p>My piece for TKS Summer Time Fun Event: July - Week 1: GL/wlw ships</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Chrome/Ruri (Dr. STONE), Kohaku &amp; Ruri, Past Chrome/Ruri (Dr. STONE), Ruri/Hanada Nikki</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>TKS Summer Time Fun Event (June and July)</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Night Before</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Yes, it's happened again, folks, I accidentally wrote something with a coherent plot and no, I don't know why either.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The hustle and bustle in Ishigami Village after the Stone Wars had been pretty hard to miss-with everyone running around preparing for their journey to Treasure Island, it was no surprise that everyone had been so busy. Ruri wasn't stupid-things took time, especially preparing for a journey of an indeterminate length of time. Still, she couldn't help but-she swallowed hard upon hearing someone laugh, their loud, boisterous voice echoing through the air. It had been so long since she laughed she began to wonder if she had forgotten how to. </p>
<p>During the Stone Wars, Senku and the rest of the people who had fought for the Kingdom of Science defeated Tsukasa and his Empire of Might, but when they returned to Ishigami Village without Chrome, Ruri's life as she knew it came to a sudden, abrupt end, her days blending together and her nights a restless tour of horrors as she suffered from nightmares or insomnia, depending on the night. Not a day had passed where she didn't think about Chrome's joyful smile, the way his eyes lit up when he found some new plant or herb he thought might be able to cure her sickness, all the times he had brought her flowers or showed her interesting rocks he found to cheer her up. </p>
<p>      "It's okay, we all miss him." Kohaku reminded Ruri earlier when she broke down in her younger sister's arms one day after overhearing Senku and Taiju discussing what to do with the collection of plants and rocks and other stuff Chrome had kept in his little private hut. </p>
<p>It wasn't okay, though, Ruri scolded herself after Kohaku went off to train with Tsukasa. She was the priestess of Ishigami Village-she knew what she needed to do. Someday-and soon-she would have to get married and have a child to pass her knowledge down to. The thought filled her with equal parts fear and disgust-never in her life had she ever wanted to marry anyone but Chrome. There was no one she loved more, no one she cared about and fret over more except for Kohaku. And yet there she was-the only man she had ever loved was gone-his smile was gone, his laugh was gone, everything he said was gone, the nervous blush on his face when she complimented him was gone-even his stuff was gone now. Now, if an outsider were to visit Ishigami Village, it would seem as if Chrome-sweet, kind, selfless Chrome, who always put everyone else before himself-had never existed at all. Gone thanks to some black-hearted killer from the old world with eyes that always seemed to be shut-thanks to that awful human being, Chrome was gone forever, gone somewhere Ruri couldn't follow and the world was poorer for it more than words could ever begin to describe. </p>
<p>     "Do you mind if I sit here?" </p>
<p>Ruri was so startled when she heard Nikki's voice that she almost jumped. "Oh-of course, that's fine. I'm sorry, I just got startled-" </p>
<p>     "It's okay." </p>
<p>Nikki was, at least as far as Ruri could tell, a kind, thoughtful woman. Though she had been a part of Tsukasa's empire, she could tell right away when they had first met some time ago that Nikki didn't have a mean bone in her body. She was all the the things Ruri wasn't-strong, athletic, and able to help around the village by doing hard labor. For a while, Ruri wondered what on Earth a woman like Nikki would want to do with her-Ruri was good at remembering things and not much else, especially now with the weight of Chrome's death dragging her into a dark, ugly depression. </p>
<p>But Nikki was kind-not sneaky or dishonest or angling to get anything for herself-just kind, truly kind, like Chrome. Not a moment went by where Ruri didn't miss Chrome. Chrome was one of a kind-a gentle, pure-hearted man with a loving, giving soul. He had never hurt anyone on purpose (outside of self-defense,) or manipulated others for his own gain and people who bore any resemblance to him were rare. If there was, in fact, anyone who reminded Ruri of Chrome, it was Nikki. </p>
<p>      "Are you nervous about traveling?" Ruri asked Nikki. </p>
<p>      "Not really, I've done my share of traveling before." Nikki replied. </p>
<p>      "I don't mean about getting on the boat-I mean going somewhere and not knowing how long you'll be gone or what you'll find when you get there." </p>
<p>Nikki quirked a brow at her, tapping her chin with her finger. "Well, maybe a little, then. But I don't mind-it's like  going on an adventure." </p>
<p>Ruri smiled at her warmly. Chrome was always like that too-always ready for the next adventure life had in store for him. It was sweet, but Ruri herself had never had any such sense of wanderlust. Being sick most of her life, Ruri never expected to travel anywhere and with her health problems bothering her as they did before Senku cured her, she knew she'd never have the stamina for it anyways. </p>
<p>Even so, Ruri enjoyed listening to Nikki explain to her all sorts of stuff about life in the old world and how people traveled to all sorts of places in all sorts of ways, inventing a dizzying variety of transportation methods to get them to where they wanted to go. For the first time since she found out what happened to Chrome, Ruri enjoyed how it felt to smile. And, though it was a much less familiar feeling, one she had no prior experience with before, Ruri found that she enjoyed how it felt to see Nikki smile and hear how happy she sounded when she talked. </p>
<p>Feeling attracted to women wasn't anything surprising to Ruri-she liked men and women about the same amount, but she had never felt her heart go aflutter with a flurry of emotions for anyone besides Chrome before. It was different and a bit confusing, but Ruri welcomed it. </p>
<p>       "So anyways, if you want my opinion, if Senku ever gets around to inventing them, I'd avoid airplanes-going on a road trip is way more fun than sitting on a crowded airplane with people hogging the armrests and pulling their seat back so you can't even move your legs." </p>
<p>       "I'll keep that in mind." Ruri wasn't the excitable type, so she enjoyed people who were more outgoing and talkative than she was-they saved her the burden of having to carry a conversation and she always found it heartwarming to see people get excited about things they liked. </p>
<p>Nikki stopped a moment, taking a long, deep breath before continuing. "Anyways, it's getting late, I guess you probably want to go home now-" </p>
<p>       "Oh no, it's fine. I like being out here with you." Ruri reassured her. "It beats being alone with my thoughts." </p>
<p>        "Yeah, that makes sense." Nikki glanced at Ruri, studying her face for any signs of distress-she didn't know Chrome, but she knew he was a childhood friend of Ruri's and the two of them had liked each other. "I'm sure it's been hard for you lately. I'm sorry again, by the way." </p>
<p>         "What for? You know, it wasn't your fault-" </p>
<p>         "I know, but-" Nikki was always bad at dealing with emotional situations, feeling shame creep up as Ruri's calm, steady gaze remained on her. "I was living with those guys, and that jerk who-" Nikki sucked on her teeth, hoping that Ruri couldn't see her hands shake. "Well, you know-I didn't-I'm sorry I couldn't stop him-" </p>
<p>Nikki swore she could have heard her own heartbeat when Ruri wrapped her arms around her. </p>
<p>          "Please don't blame yourself, Nikki." </p>
<p>The sound of Nikki's heartbeat seemed to grow more and more bothersome as Ruri hugged her-the other girl wasn't strong by any means, but she was warm and soft and-</p>
<p>          "I know you tried-Kohaku told me about it-I would never blame you for what happened-" </p>
<p>Ruri gasped softly when Nikki hugged her back-Nikki had a much stronger grip than Ruri (and perhaps slightly more body heat,) and Ruri had never been hugged by anyone quite so strong before-her father wasn't the affectionate type and Ruri had always warned Kohaku not to hug her before out of fear that she might end up spreading her disease to her. </p>
<p>When the two of them let go, a twinkle of light in the sky caught their attention. </p>
<p>         "You know, it's pretty amazing how bright the stars are now." Nikki remarked. </p>
<p>         "How do you mean?" </p>
<p>         "Well, back in my time, you couldn't really see the stars unless you lived away from the city because all the lights in the city were so bright, they blocked out the light of the stars." </p>
<p>Ah. It made enough sense, Ruri thought as they gazed at the stars-the moon was full, as large and round as Ruri had ever recalled seeing it, casting a soft, comforting glow over the wilderness outside Ishigami Village. The moon always comforted her-no matter what, it always cycled through the same predictable sequence-and every time it disappeared, it always returned a few days later. Its permanence felt soothing, providing Ruri with a sense of solace no matter what went on Ishigami Village from day to day. As lovely as it was, however, Nikki had been right earlier-it was getting late and Ruri didn't want to be the reason why anyone overslept the morning the Perseus was due to set sail for Treasure Island. Everyone she knew besides Mirai, Tsukasa's little sister, and Minami, a friend of Tsukasa's, would be heading off to Treasure Island tomorrow morning, the prospect filling her with a bittersweet mixture of emotions. She was glad they were going to try to save Mirai's brother but she couldn't help but worry if they would succeed or whether they would, for some reason or another, end up like Chrome. </p>
<p>         "Well, anyways, I know it's getting late-I said that a while ago, but anyways, I guess I should get going now-" Nikki stammered-What's wrong with me-that was a question Nikki was too oblivious to answer, at least until she felt something warm brush against her lips-</p>
<p>Ruri didn't use her tongue-giving Nikki a quick peck on the mouth and nothing more, but Nikki felt her heart slam in her chest like someone was playing drums inside her rib-cage. Remember to breathe-there you go-Nikki narrowly avoided fainting by reminding herself to breathe while Ruri's lips were pressed against her own. </p>
<p>         "Don't worry, I'm sure you'll all be fine and come back soon." Ruri's voice was so calm-Nikki marveled at how gentle and soothing Ruri's voice was. "I'll be waiting for you so stay safe and take care of yourself." </p>
<p>Later that night, when Nikki returned to the small tent she was sleeping in for the night, closing the thin flap of the entrance behind her, she barely managed to blink once before fainting right on her bedroll.</p>
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